


Hydrangea

by corruptedinkblots



Category: Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Malleus is trying to cope with it, Other, Past Vision, TWST_ballLit, TwistedBallroomColletion2k21, Yuu died in this, dance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:21:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28298172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corruptedinkblots/pseuds/corruptedinkblots
Summary: Malleus took a trip down the memory lane.
Relationships: Malleus Draconia/Yuu | Player
Kudos: 34





	Hydrangea

**Author's Note:**

> Part of the TWST Ballroom Writing Collaboration hosted on Discord.
> 
> Here's the masterlist for all of the other characters: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1s5Ie42_A1tZL1Ym46QD8BtIvvQ9GhBqpq67SQeyrwcI/edit?usp=drivesdk

A fond smile carved upon Malleus’s thin lips as his fingers slowly flipped through the album. His eyes were brimming with sentimentality as they gazed through the pictures one by one. They all told stories their owner cherished back from their college days. The world around them seemed so lively. This photo album was proof of it.

After he closed the back cover of the album, he picked up another. This time, its leather cover was sewn with the words 'Our Adventure Together' in block letters. A chuckle escaped him as he adoringly traced the threads; the memory behind it playing in his mind. _Cursive writing is too hard..._ The image of their scrunched up eyebrows and pouting lips forever burn in his memory as the sides they never show often, and now never will.

He flipped the cover open and was greeted with an illustrated bookmark. The pencil-drawn hydrangea was carefully preserved on a piece of stiff paper without any extra accessories, a testimony to the love of simplicity by its previous owner. Behind the bookmark, there was a message written to him. His heart panged upon reading it, and then placed the bookmark where it belongs.

He carefully flipped the page through the worn top corner of the album and was greeted with a series of moving pictures that told their own stories. They were all memories he still vividly remembers to this day. Even so, he traced the outline of the subject of one of the pictures, and the room around him disappeared. It was replaced with the scene from the picture he touched.

"Tsunotarou!"

His heart skipped a beat, hands trembling, lips quivering, when he saw Yuu waving at his direction. The recluse was always drawn to their energy and smile. And seeing them again had made him feel like he was years younger. They held out their hand thus prompting him to do the same. As he was about to take it, another passed through him and walked towards them. It was… himself, holding the ghost camera with the other. He was smiling from ear to ear, and that brought the present Malleus tears in his eyes. He flipped to the other page and the vision disappeared.

All the precious moments contained in the pages conjured one after the other as he went down the memory lane. From the time when they had a tea date in the courtyard, to the time when they both cooked together in the kitchen, until the time when his pale, smooth hand grasped their wrinkled, rough palm tightly, Malleus treasured everything that was kept in the album and more. As his fingers flipped through the last cover, his heart sank. The story contained in the picture was his favourite. His eyes flickered with sadness as he traced his beloved's figure standing gracefully in the picture. He wished to relive this memory one more time.

With a short incantation and shimmer of light forming at his fingertips, the whole castle he was in was swallowed in with the light. Once the spell was complete, a muted sepia surrounded him. The books that filled the shelves looked new. Seeing this, he knew that the incantation was a success.

_"...I know you…"_

But then he heard a familiar voice singing his favourite tune. Knowing whom the owner of such melodic voice belonged to, he placed the book neatly into the side table, page open, and headed towards its source. At first, he mindfully threads where he had stepped as to not disturb its owner in the slightest. But the butterfly he felt in his stomach prompting him to speed up. The closer the had gotten to the hall where the voice echoed, his heart was beating wildly in its cage. He pushed open the door, and the sight he saw brought a tear in his eyes.

_"...the way you did once upon a dream…"_

Their melodic voice and their graceful twirling in the castle ballroom enraptured his heart completely. His slow descent from the stairs brought him closer to them, but then he stopped at his tracks. His rehearsed step put a pause in their reverie and they looked at him with those captivating eyes.

"That was your cue, Tsunotarou!" Yuu's voice reverberated throughout the walls. The clicking of their heels grew louder as they got closer to him.

Malleus smiled and continued his descent towards them. “Guess I’m not your ideal prince since I can’t sing.” As he closed the distance between them, the twinkle in their eyes made his knees weak. Their cheek was soft and supple under his touch. The moment they leaned into his touch, closed their eyes and smiled contently, his thumb caressed them. Their hand softly touched the one caressing them and then clasped it.

“You don’t need to be my ideal anything. You being you is what I need.” They brought his hand to their lower back and closed the gap between them. “And what I need now is a dance partner. Or would you rather I continue all on my lonesome?”

Undeterred, he held their hand tight and straightened his back. “Nonsense. I would be happy to oblige. But before that-” With a gentle snap of his fingers, the mood in the great hall changed; candles were lit, music was played and their clothes changed. “My guess this is to your liking?”

“You’re always so extra, but I love it,” they replied, eyes never leaving his. “Then, shall we?”

While Malleus leads, Yuu follows. He fondly remembered the times they would step on their partner’s feet and fell flat on their back. Oftentimes he thought that they would sulk and gave up due to the stern nature of the instructor, but he was wrong in a good way. The fire in their eyes told him that he needed not to worry. Looking at them now light on their feet with that carefree smile carved on their lips, Malleus could not stop smiling himself.

Though he enjoyed being with them like this, he wanted to be closer. With a wave of his finger, the music gradually slowed. Their tempo followed suit. This time, they were fully in his embrace. He could feel their head leaning on his chest. His right hand was petting their head gently, and occasionally he would play with their hair. Feeling their soft hair in between his fingers felt like therapy. He wished that he could stay with them like this forever.

The music faded and the steps came to a halt. Yuu looked at him with those guileless eyes with a smile to match. He wanted no more than to kiss their crown. Though he knew what should come next in this sequence of memory, he never let go of their hand. A mistake. The scene around him started to fizzle. His Yuu was unchanging in their expression, but he could not afford to lose them a second time. He silently cursed himself as he reluctantly pulled out from their embrace. The things around him then slowly turned to normal, and their eyes now have their usual twinkle in them again.

“How was my dancing? Did I pass?”

Torn between the misery of his wants and current reality, he forced himself to follow the script he had written. A strained smile was plastered on his face and he nodded. “With flying colours, my dear.” He almost choked on the next string of words but managed to stay somewhat true to the memory nonetheless. The way they glow hearing the half-baked compliment ached his heart more than ever. He wished that he expressed the way they were light on their feet also made him want to swing with them and how beautiful their legs are as they carry the flowy dress on the dance floor.

“Then, do I get a present?” The way they pressed their body against his made his heart race like crazy. Their eyes were the only thing he saw, glimmering underneath the lit candles. A true smile returned to his lips once again, and he nodded.

“My tiny queen, my gift for you shall be the gift of dance.”

As soon as he said that, the scene around them started to wane. There it was, the end of this make-believe present. Just as Yuu expressed their delight at his gift, the past vision slowly faded away. The brightly lit place was replaced with a dim hall. He tried reaching out as Yuu’s likeness disappeared along with the memory. The last thing he saw was them also reaching out to him, asking for a second dance.

It felt like he had been standing there forever, heart ached for a presence he could never see again. The way they smell, the way they smile, the way their hands gingerly clasps his; nothing he could do could ever bring those back. He thought solace would be found in conjuring memories contained in the ghost pictures, but little was done to soothe his yearning. His head was filled with the thought of them until a voice called him from the top of the stairs.

“Malleus, it’s time for dinner.” Lilia slid down the railing and jumped at the end of it, landing perfectly beside him.

“I am not hungry,” he weakly replied. His stomach was not grumbling. Well, at least that much he knew.

Lilia stood in front of him, a worried look betrayed his usually cheery demeanour. “Three days, Malleus. Silver and Sebek are also worried about you. Yuu would be, too.” He handed him the album he left at his chamber, the bookmark purposefully sticking out.

He mindlessly took it and inspected the bookmark. The hydrangea brought him many beautiful memories of them having it planted around the castle; them skillfully planting this in varying colours. A fresh bouquet would grace their vase by the bedside every night before bed. He flipped it, reading the message they wrote behind the bookmark once again.

_“The years roll by. But a hundred years to a steadfast heart are but a day.”_

He slid the bookmark into the album. His heart was now heavy from the emotions he tried to suppress. His sight was blurry. At first, he thought that it was from the hunger he could not feel, but then he felt wetness steadily streaming down his ashen cheeks.

Lilia floated and gave him a hug, in which the still grieving man found solace in. “Nothing I say would ease the pain you feel, but know that Yuu never left you. Even though they are not with you physically, just remembering them keeps them alive in your memory.”

There were a lot of things he wanted to get out, but the shame of having his mask fell in front of his guardian prevented him from doing so. Instead, he settled with receiving Lilia’s affection and had dinner delivered to his chamber. His night then was void of slumber as the thought of them ran through his mind like a curse. But this is fine. In this near-immortal life, he would finally be able to be at peace with Yuu’s departure. Someday.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for making it this far :)


End file.
